A VLSI implementation of a cryptographic processor

Current CPU's and DSP's are not well equipped to deal with encryption for communication purposes. The fastest server CPUs cannot handle large numbers of secure connections while low power devices cannot meet the high throughput that new 3G networks are offering without severely sacrificing battery life. To combat these problems, a specialized Crypto-CPU was designed and simulated. The design utilizes new processor and low power design methodologies to create a general purpose processor optimized for cryptographic algorithms. Specialized encryption units and their corresponding instructions were added so that common cryptographic operations could be done quickly and efficiently. The design methodologies, efficiency, cost trade-offs, and simulated performance are presented in this paper.